A Sip Of Courage
by Starsurfer108
Summary: Taken hostage by Loki, Darcy gives him a run for his money through her irreverent behaviour. But how will she fare against the god of mischief? Loki x Darcy. ONESHOT. COMPLETE.


With a groan, Darcy rubbed her eyes, looking around at the unfamiliar setting. She was lying on a bed in a room that seemed fit for royalty, illumined by faint candlelight. In a rush, she recalled what had happened – she'd been kidnapped and chloroformed by some warriors whom she'd assumed were from Asgard by their dress.

"Welcome," came a smooth, honeyed voice from the shadows. The outline became more solid as the figure slowly walked into the candlelight.

"You have been brought to Asgard, and you are to share my bed every night until I see fit," Loki said, relishing in her terror.

She blinked. This was a nightmare. But what could she do? Trying to control her breathing, she helplessly looked on as Loki climbed into bed next to her and pulled the covers over them both.

It took her a few minutes to realise that Loki didn't intend to touch her. Was this supposed to be some kind of psychological torture?

After continuing to be nervous for a few minutes, she clenched her fists. This new development gave her hope. Hope that there was something stopping him – some reason she didn't know that meant he _couldn't_ touch her. This riled her up. And oh, she'd give anything to wipe that smug look off that prick's face.

"Is this the best that Asgard has to offer?" she said flatly.

"Hm?"

"Well, I'm brought here in style, and you're acting all romantic-like," she said in a faux flirting manner. "And then, nothing. Perhaps you don't have the capability for it?"

"You'd assume wrong," he said smoothly, sitting up so she could see his face in the pale candlelight. He had an incredulous look… maybe she'd pushed it too far… maybe. Not that she really had anything to lose by continuing to test this.

"Then prove it," she said defiantly. Time to throw in all her chips, lay her cards bare on the table.

Loki gritted his teeth but tried to smile despite that. "You're not my type." It didn't seem to be the real motive, but it was obvious for whatever reason he was stalling, which was good enough for her.

"Oh, really? I suppose you'd go for only the _finest_ princesses in all the nine realms?" retorted Darcy, unconvinced. Hey, any insult would do at this point, and it was clear that any irreverence was getting under his skin.

Loki gave an insincere smile at the affront. "Believe me, if you knew the… _things_ I've been with, you'd know I'm _not_ that picky."

"Sure, sure. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Ian will be along to save me quite soon," said Darcy nonchalantly, stretching. Not that he was in the same universe, or anything. But hey, Loki didn't need to know that. She gazed at him, hoping to have gotten back at him for slighting her desirability as a woman.

"Ian, huh?" There was a predatory look in his face, as if he would relish obliterating all perceived competition and have absolute dominance over his prey. Oops, she'd pissed him off… royally, too.

Grabbing Darcy, he pulled her towards a small pool in the neighboring room. Frightened and scared, she had no choice but to try to keep up with his long strides, hoping she hadn't inadvertently doomed the poor bloke.

"Show me Ian," he commanded at the edge of the pool.

Darcy nervously looked into the waters as an image began to form.

They saw Ian sitting on the side of his bed. He put on a pair of socks, but then realised they were mismatched. Taking one off, he reached for another nearby, and stubbed his toe on the bed. Hopping around, he tripped and smashed into the chest of drawers, causing the open drawer with socks to come crashing down on him.

Darcy winced.

Loki looked like he had lost all competitive desire. "Are you serious?" he asked, confused, with implications for both her claim of Ian's heroism and also her choice of partner.

Darcy didn't reply, but her glum expression said it all – Ian's incompetence had exceeded even her low expectations, and her face also betrayed that she didn't feel deep affection for Ian and was going to break it off soon, anyway.

"Just get to bed and go to sleep," Loki replied, irritated.

Tired, Darcy assented and gratefully allowed herself to fall into the comfortable mattress.

She was all bluffed out, for now. Hard work it was, too.

-0-

About a week had passed, with each day being about the same – Loki would share the bed at night, and she wouldn't see him during the day. She began to feel like a trophy wife… minus the whole 'wife' part, of course.

She was surprised to see the door open, and Loki enter.

"I will be contacting Thor soon to show off my prize," he said authoritatively. "Do you think you are capable of playing the damsel in distress? A few tears might be appropriate."

Darcy remained flat-faced but raised an eyebrow. What the hell was his deal?

Loki gritted his teeth. "If you don't think you can act, then I can always change your situation," he said in a threatening tone.

"Well, I am _bored to tears_ – I guess that could help me get in the role."

Loki pursed his lips. She could sense his rising frustration as he was trying to predict how she would behave in the conference.

Finally, he motioned for her to leave the room along with him. Darcy assented, not having much choice. Obviously there would be repercussions for disobedience, and he looked confident that this would influence her decisions.

They were now in a different room with a glowing white light in the centre of a circle. Darcy stood a bit to the side. Loki muttered some incantations within the circle, and a vision of Thor and Jane appeared in the light.

"Brother, it's good to see you again," Loki said mockingly. "I know you must have heard about my recent acquisition of the throne of Asgard."

Thor looked angry. "Loki, the more harm you do, the worse it will be for you when I get my hands on you and force you to pay for your crimes."

Loki gave an insincere chuckle. "You threaten so enthusiastically, brother, and you have yet to find a method of travel back to Asgard. But I've decided to be kind to you and put you out of your misery, so to speak – so you relinquish this foolish desire to attack me, which would fail in any case, I'm letting you know that I now have a little pet who will pay dearly if you are ambitious beyond your means."

He dragged a fed up Darcy into the circle.

"Darcy!" Jane exclaimed.

"Loki, if you harm her…" growled Thor.

"Don't worry, I'm taking _very_ good care of her - I've even slept with her every night for the last week."

"Darcy, is this true?" asked Jane, in tears.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Yes. Not much of an eye-opener, though."

Loki blinked several times and clenched his fist. Jane had a frantic look on her face, but Thor had a frown on his forehead, looking like he was seeing something out of the ordinary and was trying to figure it out. Loki waved his hand and the vision disappeared.

Geez, it was easy to get to this fellow. A little irreverence goes a long way. She almost enjoyed being roughly dragged back to the bedroom, due to his irritation.

"My patience is at an end. Obviously you don't appreciate charity, girl."

Darcy just couldn't be bothered getting scared and stood there with a bored expression on her face.

"Do you think I won't go hard on you?" he hissed, trying to get some reaction out of her.

"I still don't know whether you have that ability," she said, eyeing his nether regions.

There was that incredulous look again, followed by an aloof challenging expression. "Girl, I'll _make_ you fall in love with me, and then I'll throw you away like a bit of rubbish," he announced triumphantly.

Darcy flopped back on the bed, legs open. "Oh, well, let's get started, then," she said sarcastically.

"Please. That method would be too _easy_," he said, a haughty look on his face.

"All talk, no _action_," she said snippily. "What are you going to do, recite Shakespeare and hope I fall desperately in love with you?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You'll see," he said confidently. He then strode out of the room.

She was annoyed, but she couldn't help but be intrigued. How the heck could this bastard possibly think he could overcome her dislike of him?

-0-

About a week had gone by, with no obvious change. Considering the goal of his bet was within her power, she felt safe, but still, she didn't want to push it, didn't want to deliberately antagonize him. Her situation, after all, was precarious, and there wasn't any real assurance of her safety. But it was still annoying to be kept in suspense… perhaps he'd forgotten about it?

When Loki came in that evening, she found herself angrily looking at him.

He rolled his eyes faintly, then went to bed.

-0-

The next morning an attendant informed her that she was able to roam freely around the palace in the common areas, as long as she returned to his room at night.

Not quite sure how to take this new development, she cautiously exited the room and started to explore. Eventually she came across an indoor pool, and saw Loki in a green bathrobe standing near the edge.

She decided to approach him, putting on the most unaffected, cordial expression she could muster.

Now nearby, she detected the faintest of aromas, which was definitely something different about him. Was he finally doing something? And don't tell me he actually believed the commercials?

"Mmm… Chanel No. 5, I believe," Darcy said, nodding her head, a frown on her forehead. "One of my favourites."

Loki looked surprised she had guessed, but a bit wary that she hadn't reacted as intended.

"Indeed," he replied, and let his bathrobe drop to the floor.

She screamed, covering her face with both hands.

He gave her a withering look. "I'm not naked."

"Oh," she said, sheepishly removing her hands.

Loki shook his head disapprovingly and dived into the pool.

She couldn't help but admire his fine form like a work of art, but please… these romantic attempts were actually quite pathetic, and were no way to seduce a girl to 'fall in love', so to speak.

With an expression of distaste, she left and continued to wander around the palace, finally coming to a cosy-looking sitting room.

Her eye caught a few bottles on the side. "Hellloooo…" she said, picking one up. It didn't look like anything she'd seen before, but there was no mistaking what it was – some form of alcohol replacement.

Time to collect on some serious debt.

She tried to hide a bottle under her form-fitting clothes and headed straight back to the bedroom, trying to act nonchalant when she passed anyone but had a sinking feeling that she wasn't really pulling it off.

Finally, she made it back, uninhibited.

"L'Chaim, ya bastard," she said, popping the cork off and eagerly taking a swig.

This was strong stuff and she could feel it start to work already. Thinking back to her drunken stupors, she'd usually remember a few details of the night before, but her recollection never seemed to do justice to the horror that Jane and Dr. Selvig typically expressed the next day.

She could feel herself getting giddy, and knew she was already drunk off her rocker. Just from one little sip? Strong shit they had here on Asgard. Gotta take her hat off to the Asgardians – they sure have perfected the recipe over these millenia.

She put down the bottle and tried to walk back to the bed, but didn't feel too steady.

At that moment, Loki walked in, looking concerned, and immediately ascertained the situation. He had returned to wearing his regular articles of clothing.

She turned around to face him with a look of drunken fearlessness. "I finally realised why you haven't touched me. You're scared of Thor," she said with disdain.

Loki looked exasperated, at the end of his tether. "No, it's _not that_," he said icily.

She started to move towards him seductively. "Why won't you fuck me, then?"

Loki's mouth fell open as he realised exactly how much the liquor had affected her. "Well, it's more romantic this way, isn't it?" he said nonchalantly, trying to avoid confrontation given that she wasn't exactly responsible for her actions at this present moment.

"Oh, I don't know about that… and there's something I've got to tell you…"

"Yes?" Loki responded gently, still wanting to placate her.

"I'm quite the environmental activist," she said, now slurring her speech. "I hope this getup you're wearing isn't just for fashion's sake… in fact, it's pretty unlikely it's for fashion's sake…"

Loki's eyes widened.

"And there's something else I've got to tell you…" she said with a drunken grin.

Loki looked worried. "Yes?"

"I'm attracted to older guys…"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Even when the age gap is a few thousand years?"

She let out a laugh, inadvertently spluttering as well. "Oh well, in this modern day and age, that kind of thing shouldn't make a difference…and there's something else I've got to tell you…"

Loki didn't exactly look enthusiastic. "Yes…?"

"You're as ugly as a horse's ass!" she shouted, laughing maniacally and shoving him backwards. He landed in a chair with an 'oof'.

"Well, that _would_ explain Sleipnir…" he muttered, gripping the sides of the chair to recover, then pushing himself back up. His gaze fixed upon the living train wreck that was Darcy.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Loki," she said, now sniffing back tears. "You've been quite the gentleman, and even tried to wear Chanel No. 5 for me, and… all I've done is be a complete bitch… and nobody loves me!" She fell face-down onto the bed and started to sob uncontrollably.

"Time of the month, perhaps?" he said rather compassionately.

She immediately stood up at the affront and walked towards him, teeth gritted. Loki stiffened and had a look of trepidation with an edge of fear.

"Haha, you're funny," she finally said with a drunken giggle. She placed her arms around him and hugged him with a vice-like grip.

"Let me go, Darcy."

"Oooh, you actually know my name… we sure have taken things to the next level."

Loki continued looking expectantly at her, wanting her to obey.

"Give me a kiss and I'll let you go," she said, pouting.

Not seeing many options, Loki bent forward and kissed her on the side of her head, just next to her ear. She released him and allowed him to hug her. He continued to kiss her head, rocking her gently.

After a few moments, Darcy was asleep.

-0-

With a groan, Darcy awoke. She had a slight hangover, but nothing too major, thanks to the advanced Asgardian brew. To her horror, she could remember most if not all of the details of the night before. Even the hug at the end.

Looking around, she noted that the bottle had been removed from the room.

There was a knock on the door. She tried to make herself as presentable as possible in the five seconds she had, then opened it. It was a guard.

"You have been summoned to the presence of Loki, King of Asgard."

With a rather glum expression, she followed him.

Entering the throne room, she saw him nearby and walked closer. His body language betrayed he was acting a bit weirdly, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He didn't look like he'd slept much. The harsh edge had gone from his face.

"You are to return to Earth. Your presence here is no longer required."

Darcy's mouth fell open. "Wasn't I here to protect you?"

Loki chuckled. "Please. My position on the throne would indeed be precarious if it depended on one little girl. The threat of capture is enough, and I could threaten to capture anyone to stop Thor. You're nothing special."

Darcy glared at the veiled insult, then recollected herself. "Well, you'd lose your bet."

"I really don't care about the bet."

"Why did you make it, then?"

"Well, it got you to shut up."

Darcy looked at him incredulously. "So that means that I win."

"Yes, you win."

"I can't believe you said it."

"Oh please, I'm bigger than that."

"No, you're not," Darcy said, frowning.

Loki looked frustrated. "You may leave now, Ms. Lewis," he said firmly.

Darcy didn't move and stood staring at him for about ten seconds. "Well, maybe I'd like to stay."

Loki's eyes widened, and he stared at her, trying to suss her out.

Darcy smiled the largest, most professional smile she could muster. "Look, you owe me a vacation. I could use a holiday after going through that highly traumatic experience of being held hostage."

"Yes, it was highly traumatic for a lot of people," he said dryly.

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure it will be fine now that I actually want to stay. You have such wonderful commodities here."

"No drinking," Loki said immediately.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, no drinking."

He stood there, looking faintly worried. "I could have some chocolate sent up from Midgard."

"Really, all you saw was from that liquor."

"Oh."

A kind of shyness seemed to come over him and he broke eye contact. "Fine. You may stay, and you may have your own room."

Darcy smiled and walked out, following an attendant.

Ooh, this was a new development – he was getting bashful around her? Did he have a crush on her? Nah, that was too unlikely – it was probably because he was used to keeping people at a distance. Oh well, she was feeling generous and would actually be nice to him, to return the favour if nothing else. Nothing terrible had happened while she was here. And who knows, maybe he'll notice something in himself that he didn't know he had.

A problem is only as difficult as its solution, right?

-0-

A few days had passed and she hadn't seen him at all. She started to think that he was deliberately avoiding her. Finally, she saw him in the distance, walking along a hallway, going away from her.

"Yo, Loki – wait up."

He ignored her and continued to walk quickly.

With a giggle, she did a running tackle, causing him to go sprawling on the ground. She laughed. "Let me guess - you don't have many friends."

"Looks like I still don't," he muttered, rather ungraciously getting to his feet.

"Aw, c'mon… don't be sore…"

"Do I have a choice?" he said wearily, rubbing his back.

She laughed, partially out of politeness. "Let's go have a cup of tea and a snack."

Without waiting for a response, she grabbed his wrist and dragged him to her room.

-0-

He didn't look as bashful as before, but looked like he didn't enjoy being there.

"I'd like to be friends with you, Loki," she said with an encouraging smile.

"I _am_ busy, you know." The haughty tone in his voice from before had disappeared, but it was obvious he didn't value this kind of thing, and possibly was avoiding it because he found it uncomfortable.

"Psh…excuses, excuses."

He didn't look convinced.

She put her hands on her hips. "Look, if you don't, I'll personally make sure you're even busier," she said in a threatening tone.

Loki's eyes widened. Obviously he had no idea what she was planning – neither did she, for that matter – but she was glad her reputation for being tenacious had been firmly established.

He let out a half-hearted laugh, raising both hands in defeat. "Alright, we'll be friends."

"Great," she said, resuming her former cheerfulness and rubbing her hands together.

He frowned. "What exactly does being friends mean?"

"Well, it means that people talk to each other, share laughs together, support each other…"

He gritted his teeth. "Yes, I'm aware of the dictionary definition… I want to know how this is going to impact my life."

She laughed at his melodramatic choice of words. "Oh, well, since you're so busy, I'd like to schedule a cup of tea every morning at this particular time, and we can have a chat."

"OK, then," he said, looking at her as if she was nuts but also slightly flattered as well.

She smiled her most disarming and friendly smile.

"Time's up for today," he said rather pointedly and started walking towards the door. Was it her imagination or did he have a faint blush on his face?

She smirked. He was kind of adorable, minus the whole psychopath thing, of course. Her new little project – teaching Loki to relate to others. Why not? Might be interesting, and he might end up enjoying it, too.

-0-

A few weeks had now gone by. Loki had become less shy and more relaxed, looking like he was genuinely enjoying their conversations and laughing at her jokes. To her surprise, she found that she actually did consider him a good friend. They never delved into topics that were too personal, but she could tell that he was really quite busy, and he did look appreciative of her words of encouragement and her lighthearted banter. He always seemed to come up with some kind of witty remark, to her delight.

Preparing the tea, she mused about the fact that she really did look forward to the time she had with him, and was heartened to note that he seemed to stay a little bit longer each time.

Suddenly she noticed her heart racing. Oh no, what was this? Had this feeling crept up so slowly that she hadn't even noticed it? Had she fallen in love with him? What would become of their relationship if he knew about this? He was due any minute now… oh dear, was it possible to she hide this?

The door opened. With her heart in her stomach, Darcy turned to look at him, trying to suppress the fear, along with the other maelstrom of emotions she was feeling.

He looked surprised – as she expected, he seemed to know that she was acting different. Nervous, she knew there was just no point in hiding it and stood there, awaiting the consequences. He gave her a gentle knowing look, and seemed to be contemplating his own feelings. She could feel a small blush forming on her face, feeling flattered that he would even consider such a thing.

A look of longing appeared on Loki's face, and he moved forward, running his hands down her arms. Her heart was now in her throat, pounding away – she still didn't quite believe this was happening, but actually felt happy about it now that she knew him better.

They both moved forward for a kiss.

When there was about an inch between them, Loki stopped.

"You know how I said I would make you fall in love with me and throw you away like a bit of rubbish?"

_What?_

He moved back. "Run back to Earth, you mewling quim, and know that I have bested you completely."

_Oh, God, no. _

Tears started streaming down her face. She couldn't hide the absolute hurt she felt from losing what she had thought was an enjoyable friendship – it made her feel so cheap to know it had been an illusion all along and that she had been expertly played. It was more pain than she'd ever been in before. She didn't even think it was possible to hurt this much.

With a cold and triumphant look on his face, he turned and left, leaving Darcy desolate and alone, in a state of shock.

-0-

Loki sat close to the edge of Asgard, looking out into the beauty of space. He hadn't felt right over the last few days. He couldn't really pinpoint why at first, but reluctantly attributed it to the one difference in his life.

He heard footsteps approaching, and knew it was Thor. Even though there had been bad blood between them, which was quite the understatement, he knew he could count on Thor if he really needed something.

"What is it about mortals?" he mused absentmindedly.

"Tell her how you feel," Thor said gently.

"Will she believe me?" he asked softly.

"It doesn't matter. And apologise to her for being an asshole."

Loki turned and looked at him, acknowledging that Thor's motive for that last part was also self-satisfaction.

Loki cocked his head.

"Marry, if you would put me to verses or to dance for

your sake, Kate, why you undid me: for the one, I

have neither words nor measure, and for the other, I

have no strength in measure, yet a reasonable

measure in strength. If I could win a lady at

leap-frog, or by vaulting into my saddle with my

armour on my back, under the correction of bragging

be it spoken. I should quickly leap into a wife.

But a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the

moon; or, rather, the sun, and not the moon; for it

shines bright and never changes, but keeps his

course truly. If thou would have such a one, take

me; and take me, take a soldier; take a soldier,

take a king. And what sayest thou then to my love?

speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee." (A/N: from Shakespeare's Henry V)

Thor looked confused and bewildered. "Er, no, don't say _that_. And who's Kate?"

Loki rolled his eyes. Of course Thor didn't get the reference, plus the implication of nervousness about being in completely unfamiliar territory.

With a nod of his head to Thor, Loki strode towards the bifrost.

-0-

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on Darcy's front door. After about half a minute, the door creaked open.

His heart melted as he saw her with red, puffy eyes, looking like she hadn't slept for days. She had a distant expression on her face.

"I've never been in love before," he said with a catch in his throat.

Darcy didn't seem to react, but disappeared into the house, appearing again with an unusual stick with strands of white cloth on one end.

"Get out of my mind!" she shrieked, hitting him again and again with the mop.

Taken aback, Loki fell to the ground with an 'oof'. It was all he could do to try and defend himself from her wild attacks. Desperate, he grabbed the stick, keeping it motionless in her hands with a strong grip.

She looked surprised as she realised there was actual resistance to her pulling it back.

It sunk in that Loki was genuine in his affections – he wouldn't have a motive for continuing to play her. That was all that mattered to her – it was obvious he wasn't used to being open to other people, and therefore his past actions could be excused as inexperience.

"You're- you're actually here?"

Loki looked bemused and relieved. He cleared his throat and stood up.

"Marry, if you would put me to verses or to dance for

your sake, _Darcy_, why you undid me: for the one, I

have neither words nor measure, and for the other, I

have no strength in measure, yet a reasonable

measure in strength."

He stopped, noting she had a blank look on her face. "You don't know Shakespeare?"

The lightbulb of recognition went off. "You learned _Shakespeare_ just for me? No one's ever done that for me!"

Loki raised an eyebrow, then gently took her in his arms. "I'm sorry… for being an asshole," he said seriously.

Darcy stood there, agape.

Loki cleared his throat. "Thor advised me to say that," he said, looking a bit embarrassed. "It's true, though," he added.

"Ah, I see," she said, with an exaggerated look of understanding. "Hey, who would have known that Thor's words could be as effective as Shakespeare's in the romance department?" she said, smiling.

Loki blinked, taken aback at the compliment to his rival but enjoying the joke nonetheless. He was relieved to see she retained a loving quality towards him.

There was no more need for words. Their expressions said it all.

"Come. Let's do what we should have done a long time ago," and he led her into the house.

-Epilogue-

Loki and Darcy arrived in Asgard.

"I like her already," Heimdall said, chuckling, getting out his sword and waving it the same way Darcy did her mop, leaving Loki to give him a withering look.

END

-0-

-0-

-0-

A/N

I wasn't planning on doing another LokixDarcy fic, but after reading one of vahisa's (at deviantART) brilliant fics, I got so inspired. :) I'm embarrassed to say that I used her idea of Loki kidnapping Darcy as a hostage to stop Thor from attacking, but I thought it was so brilliant – I couldn't help mehself! :la:

Why didn't Loki do more explicit things when he took Darcy hostage? Why, to make this story suitable for deviantART, of course! 8D But also because it levels the playing field – I actually prefer it this way for more interesting interaction. x3 (personally, I think Loki is so self-entitled, who knows how he would treat a hostage… although him being scared of Thor is quite plausible, just in case things went wrong for him.)

And yeah, I do think it's possible for Loki to have been manipulating Darcy all that time. Until the end, when he realised he'd unconsciously enjoyed her company. AWWW~~!

I'm going to say that Darcy cleared up what had happened when she arrived back on Earth, and somehow Thor had permission to go to Asgard as he wasn't seeking revenge. Eh, it's all filler – don't want to stop the story just to fill up plot points.

And I've watched The Hollow Crown recently – can you tell? ;)


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